An Australia vs Zimbabwe match will have 200-1 odds even today. Back then, a gambler won £100 (around ₹ 6,900 now) betting on a Zimbabwe victory. Though Zimbabwe lost all their remaining matches in the World Cup, their first appearance in the tournament ended in one of the biggest upsets ever.

Against the odds: Members of the victorious Indian team. Hindustan Times

Pakistan were 43 for 5 before a 144-run partnership between captain Imran Khan (102*) and Shahid Mahboob (77) took them to 235. Sri Lanka were cruising at 161 for 2 when leg-spinner Abdul Qadir’s five wickets—3 in the space of eight deliveries—put the brakes and earned Pakistan an 11-run win.

• 20th match: India vs Zimbabwe

Kapil Dev scored 227 runs in the tournament—175 of them came from this match, which was never recorded on video because of a BBC strike. Walking in to bat at a score of 9 for 4, which soon became 17 for 5, Kapil Dev took the score to 140 for 8 with Roger Binny (22) and Madan Lal (17). Syed Kirmani (24*) then joined Kapil to take India to 266, with the Indian captain scoring an unbeaten 175, surpassing the previous One Day International highest of 170 by New Zealand’s Glenn Turner against East Africa in 1975. India dismissed Zimbabwe for 235, with Madan Lal (3/42) and Roger Binny (2/45) leading the bowling charge, to give them a 31-run victory.

• Final: India vs West Indies

India had already stunned the two-time world champion in a league match, beating them by 34 runs. West Indies avenged the loss with a 66-run win in a repeat encounter. The final will be remembered as much for India’s shocking win as for Krishnamachari Srikkanth’s 38, which turned out to be the highest individual score of the match, Gordon Greenidge shouldering arms to Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Kapil Dev’s catch to dismiss Vivian Richards and Mohinder Amarnath’s dismissal of Michael Holding, the last wicket to fall. Chasing 183, West Indies fell short by 43 runs.

Compiled by Manoj Madhavan.

Source: Cricinfo.com

(In the run-up to the 10th World Cup starting February, this is the second in a weekly series of highlights from previous World Cups.)